Shadow of my Brother
by The L33t One
Summary: Jasper is the younger brother of the world's greatest Pokemon trainer. It's Jasper's dream to be just like his brother some day. Nobody believes that he can. So he sets out to prove them wrong.
1. My Big Brother is the Best There Is

Jasper turned on the TV in his living room and a boring news channel flickered onto the TV. He grabbed the remote and changed the channel.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," The announcer on the channel he turned to said. "I am proud to welcome you all to the final round of this year's Poké-Master Tournament!" The scene changed to an aerial view of the arena, which was shaped and colored like a Pokéball. "We have seen some pretty intense battles so far this week, but I bet you that nothing we've seen yet will compare to this. In the opposing corner we have the winner of the Ladder Battles, ladies and gentlemen give a big round of applause for Darnell Rohlfs!"

On the white half of the arena a middle aged man with dark skin entered via an elevator that also resembled a Pokéball. He pumped his fist in the air and the crowd cheered.

"Darnell has conquered the entire tournament to get here. Now he has a shot at defeating the world's best Pokémon Trainer and claiming that title for himself. And here he comes now!"

Jasper jumped up and down in the air excitedly. "MOM, MOM!" He shouted eagerly. "COME QUICK, BIG BROTHER'S ABOUT TO COME ON!"

Jasper's mother walked into the living room with a basket of laundry in her arms. She smiled and as she set it on the table and sat down next to Jasper. "Ok then, let's watch him."

"Here he is folks, the hailing champion of the…" But when the elevator on the red side of the arena rose up, it was empty. "Hold on a second, where is he?"

"Hey!" Jasper shouted. "Where is big brother?"

"Something seems to be wrong ladies and gentlemen. The elevator has risen up but our champion is not on it. Perhaps he has come down with a case of the flue?" Then out of the audience a member flipped out of the crowd and onto the center of the elevator. "There he is folks!" The announcer shouted. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to give to you the Pokémon World Champion for six years running, please give it up for Gil Nuding!" The entire crowd burst into a scream of applause.

"YEAH!" Jasper shouted.

"Now viewers of the world, I am overwhelmed announce that the final battle of this year's Poké-Master Tournament is beginning!"

Gil smiled as he pulled out his first Pokéball. He pressed the button in the center and it instantly grew larger. He then threw it and it burst open releasing his Weavile.

Darnell sneered. "Is that it?" He taunted. He threw a Pokéball and released his Tyranitar. It roared and the crowd cheered even more.

"Round one is underway ladies and gentlemen. Darnell was able to make it this far off his party's shear brute force. But will that be enough to best our champion? Let's watch and find out."

"Alright Tyranitar, use fire fang and finish this runt off quickly!" Darnell's Tyranitar ran up to Weavile and bared its teeth, which released blazing fire.

Gil remained calm. "Weavile, dodge and hit him with metal claw." Weavile swerved around Tyranitar with blinding speeds just before the fire fang made contact with it. Its claws then grew longer and more metallic as it uppercut-slashed Tyranitar on the back, dealing devastating damage.

Darnell gasped. "You'll pay for that! Tyranitar, stop fooling around and use hyper beam!" Tyranitar opened its mouth and a yellow orb started charging up. It then released the hyper beam straight towards Weavile. Weavile dashed out of the way of the attack and Tyranitar attempted to change the beam's direction and hit it but the beam ran out before even coming close to Weavile. Tyranitar started panting and recharging from the hyper beam.

Gil smiled. "Now Weavile, use quick attack." Weavile lunged at Tyranitar and started rapidly punching and kicking it with a graceful and dancelike manor. Each graceful blow hurt Tyranitar more and more.

Darnell growled. "That's it! Tyranitar show this twerp whose boss and use earthquake!" Tyranitar scowled and stomped powerfully on the ground causing it to shake violently.

Much to Darnell's surprise however, Weavile jumped high into the air avoiding the attack. Gil pointed his finger out at Weavile. "Icy breath, go!" Still in the air, Weavile took in a deep breath and shot out a gust of ice cold air mixed with frozen ice crystals. They pelted Tyranitar and caused him to fall to the ground unconscious.

"Well there you have it folks," The announcer said. "Brute force isn't always the way to go. Weavile's soupier speed and agility easily conquered the large and slow Tyranitar. The first battle goes to Gil."

Gil held out Weavile's Pokéball and it shot out a red beam retracting Weavile back inside. Gil took out another Pokéball and released his Shedinja.

Darnell retracted Tyranitar and threw another Pokéball. He grunted with confidence as his Magcargo. "I may have the last battle, but I know I can win this one."

Gil smirked. "Is that so?"

"Magcargo!" Darnell shouted. "Flamethrower!" Magcargo opened his mouth and a jet of flames shot out at Shedinja. It was easily able to dodge the flames. Darnell smirked as Magcargo instantly launch another flamethrower at Shedinja as soon as it dodged. "Magcargo isn't as slow as he looks."

Shedinja dodged each flamethrower that Magcargo launched at it. Gil sighed. "Looks like we're gonna have to stop these flames Shedinja. Use confuse ray." Immediately after dodging another flamethrower, Shedinja shot out a colorful ray at Magcargo. When it hit Magcargo its head started spinning around in confusion. "Now use shadow sneak." Shedinja dove into the ground and disappeared into its own shadow.

"Snap out of it Magcargo!" Darnell yelled at Magcargo. It shook its head and snapped out of confusion. Magcargo tried to locate Shedinja but it was nowhere to be found in the arena.

"Use shadow ball." Gil ordered. A shadow appeared on the wall behind Magcargo. Shedinja stuck itself out and launched a shadow ball. It made full impact with Magcargo, who was launched forward. Magcargo then tried to turn around and launch a flamethrower at Shedinja, but ended up hitting the wall. "Now Shedinja," Gil said. "Bug buzz." Magcargo turned around anticipating the next attack to come from behind it again. But instead Shedinja burst up right in front of Magcargo's original orientation and let loose an ear piercing vibration from its wings. Magcargo cried out in pain. "Finish it off with silver wind." Gil said. Shedinja spread its wings and released a beautiful, silver gust of wind from them that buffered Magcargo so hard that it fainted.

"Now wasn't that something folks?" The announcer said. "It was clear that Darnell's strategy was to use Magcargo's fire type moves to negate Shedinja's wonder guard. But unfortunately for Darnell that plan won't work unless you can actually hit Shedinja. The second battle goes to Gil!"

Gil put Shedinja back into its Pokéball and threw out his next one. His Feraligatr was released and let out a mighty roar.

Darnell grabbed a Pokéball and threw out is Sceptile. "You got lucky those last two battles but there's no way you can win this one! Sceptile use leaf blade!" The spikes on Sceptile's forearms extended and it used them like blades to attack Feraligatr. Then, much to everyone's surprise, the attack actually hit Feraligatr. Sceptile slashed at Feraligatr multiple times and each hit made contact with Feraligatr. "Alright!" Darnell shouted with excitement. "We got him now Sceptile!"

Gil let loose another smirk. "You think so. That's enough Feraligatr, time to use rage." Feraligatr scowled and roared loudly causing Sceptile to stagger backwards. Feraligatr then rushed towards Sceptile, picked it up, and threw it towards the wall of the stadium in a fit of powerful rage. "Now use slash!" Feraligatr charged at Sceptile and slashed it with its sharp claws before Sceptile even had time to get up. "Ice fang for the final blow!" Feraligatr opened its maw wide and its teeth were incased in ice. It brought down its teeth in order to bite Sceptile.

"Oh no you don't!" Darnell shouted. "Sceptile counter with leaf storm!" Sceptile's eyes flinched open and it held out its arms causing a barrage of leaves to pelt and damage Feraligatr. Sceptile jumped up to its feet. "Now, use bullet seed!" Sceptile shot out large seeds from its mouth and pelted Feraligatr. They eventually broke its guard and sent Feraligatr to the ground. "Ok, use synthesis to recover while it's down!" Sceptile took in a deep breath and it started taking in sunlight; which allowed Sceptile to recover.

Feraligatr quickly got up. "Don't let it recover Feraligatr. Use hydro pump to end this battle." Feraligatr inhaled, and then spat out a jet of water with more force than a fireman's hose. It hit Sceptile head on and knocked it backwards against the wall. Feraligatr kept spitting out water for few more minutes. "Ok Feraligatr, I think it's had enough." Feraligatr ceased its attack and Sceptile fell to the ground soaking wet and unconscious.

"Now that was an exciting battle folks." The announcer said. "It looked like for a second there that Sceptile would easily take the victory over Feraligatr with its grass type moves. But Gil proved that brute force can be the way to go if used correctly. Utilizing the intense rage built up in Feraligatr by Sceptile's attacks it was able to overpower the poor grass lizard easily. Even when Darnell thought he regained the upper hand Feraligatr was still able to dominate Sceptile. The third battle goes once again to Gil!"

Feraligatr was retracted and Exploud was released.

Darnell sent out his Machamp. It flexed and made the crowd cheer it on. "Alright Machamp, use cross chop!" Machamp's hands started to glow as it charged at Exploud.

"Stop it with screech." Exploud opened its mouth wide and let out a high pitched scream, stopping Machamp in its tracks. "Now use take down!" Exploud charged at Machamp gaining momentum quickly, and then tackled it with extreme force.

"Counter with strength!" Darnell commanded. Machamp used all four of its arms to stop Exploud. Then it picked it up and prepared to throw Exploud.

"Give him a taste of hyper voice Exploud." Exploud inhaled deeply and screamed so loud that sound barriers went up around the audience and the trainers to protect their ears. Machamp dropped Exploud and covered its ears. But this was not enough to shield it from the pain. "Now finish it with thunder fang!" Exploud opened its mouth wide and electricity shot out from its teeth. Bringing its teeth down the defenseless Machamp was all it took to end the battle.

"Things aren't looking that good for Darnell folks," The announcer said as both trainers retracted their Pokémon. "He's down four Pokémon and Gil still has all six of his left. If he wants to win this battle he better have two extremely powerful Pokémon left."

"Alright," Darnell said. "Time to bring out the big guns." He raised his right hand in the air, signaling that he needed water. His half of the arena slid open and filled with water. "You're going down now! Gyarados show this fool who's the best!" He tossed his Pokéball out and his massive Gyarados was released into the water. It looked at Gil and roared at him.

Gil was not intimated in the slightest way. He calmly took his fifth Pokéball from his belt and threw it into the air. His Skarmory appeared and soared circles around Gyarados. "Alright, we'll pull the first move this time. Use steel wing." Skarmory's wings started to slow a bright silver color as it used them to slash at Gyarados. It screamed in rage.

"Don't let him do that to you Gyarados," Darnell shouted. "Use dragon rage on it." Gyarados fired a shot of swirling firing from its mouth at Skarmory.

"Use agility!" Gil shouted. Skarmory moved faster than the eye could see and avoided the dragon rage attack.

"Keep it up Gyarados!" Darnell yelled. "It's bound to get tired some time." Gyarados continuously fired the dragon rage attack from its mouth; which Skarmory kept dodging.

"Use metal sound!" Gil ordered. Skarmory dodged another dragon rage attack and then clapped its wings together creating an irritating sound that caused Gyarados to flinch. This created an opening which Gil was quick to take up. "Now use furry attack!" Skarmory started to rapidly pecked, scratched, and slashed Gyarados. "Now end it with brave bird!" Skarmory flew up high into the air, and then suddenly dove down at super speeds towards Gyarados. The impact was so hard that it caused Gyarados to fall to the ground. Gil retracted Skarmory and smirked. "Big guns eh?"

"It's just about over now folks." The announcer said. "Anyone who's watched one of Gil's matches knows what Pokémon that he saves for last. Darnell has no chances of winning this battle."

Darnell growled with fury. "I'LL SHOW YOU!" He shouted. He called back Gyarados and pulled his sixth and final Pokéball out. "Ok you're my last hope, better make this count." He threw out his Pokéball and his Gengar appeared ready for battle.

Gil also threw out his final Pokéball. Before it even opened the crowd erupted into the loudest cheer ever. When the Pokéball did open, Gil's Gallade appeared.

"Alright Gengar!" Darnell shouted. "Use…"

"Use psycho cut." Before Darnell or Gengar could react, Gallade used the blades on his forearms to slash Gengar. Gengar fell over and the whole crowd started cheering.

"Well there you have it folks!" The announcer shouted. "I am proud to announce that for the seventh year in a row our Pokémon Master is once again, GIL NUDING!"

Jasper was jumping up and down on the couches cheering. "YEAH YOU GO BIG BROTHER! YEAH!" Jasper greatly looked up to his older brother. He was the perfect person to look up to. Jasper knew that one day, he wanted to be just like him.


	2. I Wanna Be the Best Just Like Him

Jasper ran all around the house cheering. "YEAH! GIL IS THE BEST POKÉMON TRAINER IN THE WORLD!"

His mother laughed. "Settle down Jasper."

Jasper sat down on the couch, still full of energy. "Mom, someday, I want to be just like Gil. I want to be the best Pokémon trainer in the world."

His mother stopped laughing and a frown actually formed on her face. "Well uh, Jasper, honey, can't you just settle for being the younger brother of the best?"

"No way mom! I'm going to be the best Pokémon trainer in the world just like Gil."

"But sweetie, if you did that then Gil wouldn't be the best trainer in the world anymore. You don't want to make him feel sad would you?"

"Gil wouldn't be sad if I beat him. He'd be proud of me."

Jasper's mother sighed and walked out of the living room with the basket of laundry. Jasper laced up his shoes and grabbed his backpack. He went to the laundry room to tell his mother that he was going out, but stopped and hid behind the doorway when he heard her talking on the phone.

"Yeah you did great today sweetie," She said obviously talking to Gil. "I'm very proud of you. Yes Jasper was watching; he always does. No, no complaints from the neighbors this year. Will you be able to come home? Oh I see. No I understand, you being famous and all. It's fine Gil, really. You're an adult and don't have to everything I say. Huh? You'll clear your schedule next month so I can visit? That's great! Yeah I'll let Jasper be surprised."

Jasper tried to refrain from giggling. He was very good at keeping secrets so he wouldn't let on he knew about his.

"Oh, and speaking of Jasper…I was hoping you can sit down and have a little talk with him. A big talk actually. No not THAT talk. He says he wants to be just like you. I know I should let him dream sweetie; but I don't want him to have dreams that he could never achieve."

Jasper couldn't believe what he was hearing. Whenever he told anyone that he wanted to be just like his big brother, they would either laugh or politely tell him that there was no way he could. But his own mother wasn't someone he'd expect to hear that from as well. He put his hands in his pockets and left the house.

"And plus…" His mother continued "If he tried to pursue that dream he'd leave home to be on his own. He's ten years old now, the age most kids leave when they want to become Pokémon trainers. I had a hard enough time letting you go; I don't think I could do the same with Jasper. So I was hoping you could come and talk Jasper out of it. Thanks sweetie that means a lot to me. See you next month. Love you too bye." She hung up the phone and finished putting the laundry away.

Jasper walked down the streets of Jubilife with his hands in his pockets as he kicked a discarded soda can. Then sight of the soda can reminded him of what he had originally set out to do in the first place. He rushed to the old park that nobody uses. It was old and run down; definitely not safe for children to play in. But Jasper had put it to another use.

"Absol!" He called out. Out of the woods behind the park an Absol pounced Jasper and started licking him affectionately. Absols are very rare in the Sinnoh region; this one had been brought over by Pokémon poachers. Jasper had found it along with other rare Pokémon when the poachers had set up camp outside of Jubilife. When the poachers had gone to sleep, Jasper snuck into the camp and let all the Pokémon loose. While the rest fled and went to live in the wild, Absol formed an attachment to him and stuck around.

"Ok Absol," Jasper said. "You ready for today's training?" Absol let out its cry and nodded. "Ok." Jasper took the soda can he was previously kicking and threw it in the air. "NIGHT SLASH!" The blade on the side of Absol's head started to glow black as it leaped into the air towards the can and used it to slash the can clean in half. "Alright!" Jasper cheered on. He took some more soda cans out of his backpack and set them all around the park. Then he took out a stop watch. "Ready, GO!" Absol took off around the park and used the blade on its head to slice all of the cans in half. When Jasper stopped the watch it read 47 seconds. "Awesome! You're so fast Absol!"

Then a noise from outside the city caught Jasper's ear. It sounded like it was coming from just beyond the forest. Curiosity getting the better of him, Jasper went into the forest to see what it was. He was shocked at what he found: two men putting the Pokémon of the forest in cages.

"Poachers!" Jasper said in disgust. But there was something different about these two Pokémon Poachers than the ones that he had found Absol with. They wore red uniforms with black _M_'s on them. They looked like the band of thieves that Jasper learned about in history class. But these weren't any of the teams that he saw in the history book. It was probably a new team.

"Man," One of the poachers said to the other. "I'm tired of rounding up all of these Bid of."

"I know." The other said as he put a Bidoof into a cage. "Why do we even have to do this?"

"The boss said a rare Pokémon would most likely appear if we do."

"Well I hope one appears soon I'm getting bored."

"Yeah me too."

"Come on Absol," Jasper said. "We better go inform the…" But Absol, having developed a personal grudge against anyone who kidnaps Pokémon, leaped out of the bushes in rage at the poacher and used its night slash attack to break open the cages and let all of the Bidoof free.

Both of the poacher however just smirked.

"See what I tell you?" One said. "Not too often you find an Absol around these parts. This will surely please the boss." He pulled a Pokéball out of his pocket.

The other one stopped him. "Hey what are you doing? We don't need to battle it." He pulled out a bazooka-like weapon which fired a net at Absol, ensnaring it. "When we've got cool toys like this." Absol prepared to use its night slash to cut the net when the poacher smirked again. "I don't think so." He pressed a button on the net launcher which caused it to shock Absol and knock it out.

The other poacher pulled a radio out. "Hey we got one." He said into it. A few seconds later a large aircraft hovered over the sky. It dropped down a ladder which both the poachers used to climb up. Then the aircraft used a vacuum-like tube to suck Absol up.

"NO!" Jasper shouted. He ran and tried to pull the net down; but this only resulted in him being sucked up along with it.


	3. Team Moon Force

When Jasper woke up he discovered that he was in a cage lying next to Absol, who was still in a net. He started shaking Absol and woke it up. It instantly slashed its way out of the net. It attempted to cut the bars to the cage but they were too sturdy.

"I don't think you can cut through those Absol," Jasper said. He walked up to the front of the cage and looked around. Hanging on the wall to the left of him were the keys to the cell. With a little effort he was able to reach them and unlock the cage. "Come on Absol let's get out of here." They ran out of the cage and into a hallway filled with more cages. Jasper examined them and saw that all of them were empty. "Looks like there isn't any chances for us to be heroes today Absol." Jasper joked to himself as they walked down the hall.

It completely escaped Jasper's mind that there were probably guards guarding Absol. And as a consequence he didn't act stealthy in the least and made audible footsteps. One of the guards heard his footsteps and went to see where the noise was coming from.

"What's going on over hear?" The guard said as he came out from around the corner and saw Jasper. "Hey who are you?" He was wearing the same uniform the poachers were wearing.

Jasper froze. "Uh oh." He looked behind him and that that way was a dead end. "No choice Absol," Jasper said. "We'll have to fight our way through."

"You're not escaping with that Absol!" The guard took a Pokéball out of his pocket and threw it. A Mightyena appeared and growled at Absol and Jasper.

"Ok Absol," Jasper said shaking a little. "Time to see if that training paid off." He took a second to analyze his situation. Mightyena was a dark-type Pokémon so Absol's night slash wouldn't have much effect. He would have to rely on its normal attacks to win.

"Mightyena," The guard shouted. "Use take down to make short work of this kid!" Mightyena charged and rammed into Absol with great force.

Absol was knocked to the ground but quickly jumped back to its feet. "Use slash!" Absol lunged at Mightyena with its claw raised to the air. Its speed was so fast that Mightyena didn't have time to dodge when Absol brought the claws down on it.

"Use bite!" Mightyena quickly used its fangs to bite down on Absol. It however didn't do much harm to Absol since it was a dark-type.

"Hit him with another slash Absol!" Absol used the blade on its head to slash at Mightyena while it still had a grip on Absol with its maw. It instantly released its grip and was sent rolling backwards. "Again!" Jasper shouted. Absol charged at Mightyena and slashed with its blade.

"Counter with take down!" The guard ordered. Mightyena sprang to its feet and charged at Absol, using its skull to make contact with Absol's blade. The two Pokémon were at a stalemate. They both tried to overpower the other but proved meaningless.

Then Absol started to concentrate and produce a low growl. The blade on its head started to glow bright. At first Jasper was confused, but then he realized what was going on. He had seen this move on TV. Absol was trying to use megahorn!

"Come on Absol!" Jasper shouted. "You can do it! Use megahorn!" Absol's low growl rapidly escalated into a louder tone. The force that it was outputting increased by a large amount allowing it to overpower Mightyena. It was sent flying and hit the ground hard enough to knock it unconscious. "Yeah!" Jasper shouted. "You did it." As he stared at the unconscious Mightyena, Jasper quickly realized that he had won his first Pokémon battle.

The guard put Mightyena back into its Pokéball. "You got lucky kid! But wait until I go and get back up!" He turned around and started to run down the hallway. Absol leapt over him and blocked his path.

With Absol's help, Jasper threw the guard into the cage that he and Absol had been sucked into and locked it. As the two of them walked, Jasper started to praise Absol.

"You did great." He said. "We've won our first Pokémon battle!" They proceeded down the hall (this time without making any noise). Whenever guards passed they hid in the shadows and managed not to be seen. They ran through the halls until they came to a window. Jasper looked outside and gasped. They were flying over the ocean. "Not good." Jasper mumbled to himself. He sat down in depression. "How are we supposed to sneak off this thing?" Absol nudged him and pointed to a sign that pointed in the direction of the cockpit. "Are you suggesting that we force the pilot to turn around and take us home?" Absol nodded. "Well it's the only plan we got."

Jasper and Absol followed the sign and found a door with a sign labeled _cockpit_ on it. "You ready?" Jasper asked. Absol nodded. "Ok…here goes everything. Use night slash to cut the door open." Absol's blade glowed black and was used to cut the metal door in two. Jasper and Absol charged in. "Turn this airship around and take us back to Jubilife!" Jasper demanded.

In the cockpit were three men; two of which were up front by the controls and wearing the same uniforms everyone else was. The third man was sitting in the center and behind the other two. He was an elderly man wearing a red tuxedo and a black scarf going all the way down to his waist. They all rotated their chairs to face Jasper. The two men at the controls pulled out Pokéballs and prepared to throw them; however the old man held up his hand signaling for them to stop. They nodded and turned around to get back to the controls.

"Ah yes," The old man said with a grin. "You must be the kid who beat my grunt in the prison block."

Jasper gasped. "How did you know that?"

The old man pointed to the wall on the right side of the room, which covered in security camera monitors. "Did you think we wouldn't have security cameras in a holding chamber?" Jasper tensed and Absol prepared to attack. "Relax child I'm not going to hurt you. We're not bad guys after all."

Jasper didn't ease up in the slightest. "Yeah right. You guys are poachers! I saw your grunts kidnaping helpless Pokémon!"

The old man laughed. "That was a slight misunderstanding. We were merely collecting them so we could attract a rarer Pokémon to use."

"Then why were you putting them in cages and not capturing them like normal trainers?"

"Simple my dear child; it is easier to release a Pokémon that doesn't recognize you as its master over one that does."

"You mean, you were going to release all of the Pokémon you caught?"

"Only the ones that we didn't intend to train. We're not poachers child. We are Team Moon Force. We want unite this world for the governments of each separate region are worthless."

"What do you mean?"

"Tell me child, do they still teach you about the major gangs that formed in the past?"

"Yeah. People like Team Rocket and Team Galactic."

"Good. The governments of each region did nothing to stop those gangs. Team Rocket once seized an entire city. And did the government try to reclaim it? NO! They left those citizens in the tyranny of those villains until they were rescued by an average citizen such as you. The governments of the world are worthless. I formed Team Moon Force to dispose of them and lead the world under my rule. Under my control I will not tolerate gangs, poachers, or any illegal activity."

Jasper took a minute to take in all of this in. He was only ten so he didn't know much about the political world. But what the old man said was true. According to his textbooks, all of the gangs were stopped by Pokémon trainers who just happened to get mixed up in there affairs. This old man's ideals sounded alright to him.

"I'm sorry for what I did." Jasper sad regretfully.

"Oh battling my grunt? Don't worry about it. You and your Absol are amazing in battle. I could use talented trainers like you on my team."

Jasper couldn't believe that someone had just called him a talented trainer. "Thanks sir, but I don't think my mom would like that."

"I understand. We'll take you home as soon as we are done with our little task out here at sea."

"Thank you Mr…"

"Lynwood." The old man said. "My name is Lynwood."

"Thank you Mr. Lynwood. My name is Jasper."

"It's been a pleasure to meet you Jasper."

"If you don't mind me asking Mr. Lynwood, what are you doing out here?"

"Oh you see we intend to…" There was loud beeping noise coming from the control panel.

"Sir!" One of the men shouted. "We've located the target!"

"Excellent." Lynwood got up from his chair and walked out into the hall with the aid of a cane. "Come on Jasper, I'll show you what I am going to do." Jasper and Absol followed Lynwood down the halls and onto a lift. It raised the three of them up to the top of the airship. Lynwood walked out to the front of the ship and pulled something out of his pocket. "Do you know what this is Jasper?" He asked.

"No sir, I don't." Jasper shouted back over the wind.

"It's called the Silver Wing. I spent years trying to find it. It's a very rare item with a special purpose. And that purpose is…" Lynwood held the Silver Wing up to the air and it started to glow bright. Out of nowhere a massive storm formed. It rain pelted down hard and Jasper could see tornados forming in the distance. Then in the middle of all the chaos, a shape started to rise out of the water. A large, silver Pokémon took flight into the skies and roared at the airship. "To summon the legendary Lugia!"


	4. Lynwood vs The Guardian of the Sea

Jasper could barely believe his eyes. He was staring at one of the legendary Pokémon that he had only read about in class. It was Lugia, the guardian of the seas. The storm seemed to worsen with its presence. Each flap of its wings created a gust of wind with power equal to that of a tornado. Jasper and Absol could barely keep their balance atop the airship.

Lynwood for some strange reason seemed to have no trouble withstanding the wind. His long, black scarf blew in the wind as he laughed evilly. "Yes!" He shouted. "Yes! Its power is even greater than I imagined! Hello Lugia, my name is Lynwood. I am your new master!"

Lugia roared at the ship and blew a gust of wind at it that sent the ship spinning in circles. Jasper and Absol would have fallen off if it wasn't for the barriers that were erected across the border of the ship's roof.

"Lynwood!" Jasper shouted over the storm. "We need to get out of here!"

"I'm sorry boy," Lynwood shouted back. "But I have searched too long for Lugia to just turn around and flee from it." He pulled out a Pokéball and released his Altaria. It erected its cloud-like wings and flew against the storm. "Altaria, calm it down." Altaria started to hum a tune that made Jasper and Absol feel surprisingly mellow. It affected Lugia as well for the storm was starting to calm, but not entirely. "Good. Now…" Lynwood pulled a purple and red with Pokéball with and _M_ on it out of his pocket. Jasper recognized this Pokéball as a master ball; a Pokéball which will capture any Pokémon without fail. "YOU'RE MINE!" Lynwood threw the Pokéball at Lugia with all of his might.

The sight of the master ball caused Lugia to regain its senses. It let loose a hydro pump attack at the Pokéball, destroying it. Lugia roared loudly and the storm picked up again stronger than ever.

Lynwood was not upset at all. He started to laugh. "I was hoping this would be a challenge! Altaria, you feeling up to battling the guardian of the seas?" His Altaria nodded. "Good." He turned to Jasper and Absol. "Jasper boy, get back below the deck. I have a feeling things are about to get very rough out here."

Jasper didn't even make an attempt to argue. He and Absol ran back to the elevator and were lowered back to the interior of the airship. They ran back to the cockpit and watched the battle from the windshield.

Altaria flew to meet Lugia. Although dwarfed by its massive foe, Altaria didn't seem the least bit intimated. "Let's show Lugia the true power of a common Pokémon Altaria!" Lynwood shouted. "Use dragon pulse!" Altaria roared and let lose a giant ball of energy from its mouth that exploded when it made contact with Lugia.

The force from the explosion was enough to send the gigantic tumbling backwards through the air. It flapped its wings hard to stop itself. The power of its wings flapping sent a massive gust of wind towards the ship that caused it to be propelled into a vertical position. Jasper, Absol, and one of the pilots fell against the back wall; however the other pilot was able to hang onto the controls and turn the ship back to its normal position.

"SIR!" The pilot called into a radio. "Are you alright?"

"Yes I very much am." Lynwood's voice replied through the radio, causing both the pilots to let out a sigh of relief. "I was able to grab onto one of the guard rails before the ship flipped." Lynwood put the radio back into his pocket and turned his attention back to the battle.

Lugia shot out a giant ball of water from its mouth at Altaria that was easily double its size.

"Dodge it quick!" Lynwood shouted. Altaria tried to dive below the ball of water, but it was so big that it couldn't avoid making contact with the attack. The force of the attack knocked Altaria back and caused it to crash into the ship next to Lynwood. Altaria got up and scowled at Lugia. "Are you alright?" Lynwood asked with deep concern. Altaria replied by taking off again towards Lugia. "That's what I like to see!"

Lugia roared and took off high into the sky. It suddenly made a U-turn and dove down at Altaria. A blue aura of energy formed around Lugia as it charged at Lynwood's Pokémon.

"Safeguard!" Lynwood shouted. Altaria was able to put up the barrier around itself just before Lugia made contact. Despite the enormous amount of power put out by Lugia's attack, the only affect it had on Altaria was sending it hurtling towards the ocean. However Altaria was able to stop itself and prepare for another attack. "Hit it with sky attack!" Altaria flew up into the air and did a similar maneuver to the one Lugia had recently done; however instead of a blue aura, a coat of fire surrounded Altaria. The impact caused Lugia to stagger backwards in pain. "Now hit it with dragon breath!" Altaria inhaled, and exhaled a large amount of fire at Lugia.

Lugia flinched and launched a hydro pump attack to counter Altaria's dragon breath. The powerful stream of water extinguished the dragon breath and hit Altaria head on. Altaria fell on top of the airship unconscious.

Lynwood quickly put Altaria back into its Pokéball. "You did great out there." He said as he stared out at Lugia. "So how about it?" He shouted. "Are you ready to call me your master? I have five more where that came from, all of them just as powerful!"

Lugia roared louder than ever. It flapped its wings rapidly and created cyclones all around the airship. It opened its maw and fired a blast of wind with the force of a hurricane directly at the ship. The head on collision of the attack caused the ship to blow apart into small fragments. In a matter of seconds the entire airship was destroyed and everybody on board was sent flying like dust in the wind.

Jasper held on tight to Absol. The two of them screamed loudly as they were hurtled off into the horizon.

When Lynwood awoke, he was floating on the water. The storm had ceased and Lugia was nowhere to be found. He looked around; there was no land in sight. Just as he started to wonder what he was going to do, a Wailord with the entire crew of the airship swam beside him.

"Boss!" They shouted as they helped him atop the massive whale Pokémon. "I'm sorry our mission was a complete failure."

"It was not a failure." Lynwood said. "It was simply a lesson. We must prepare ourselves more the next time we come to fight a Pokémon of legendary status. Come on, let us return home." Wailord turned and started to swim towards land.


	5. Welcome to Kanto

Jasper's eyes slowly opened. He discovered that he was lying next to next to Absol in a patch of grass. He slowly got up and examined his surroundings. This area was unfamiliar to him. He awoke Absol; who also had no idea where they were.

"Seems you're just as clueless as me," Jasper sighed. "Oh well, let's take a look around. Maybe we'll find a way back to Jubilife." Absol nodded and the two of them started to explore. They came across a path and followed it. They eventually came across a town. "Here we go." They found the town's welcome sign. Jasper's jaw dropped when he read it.

_Welcome to Viridian City. A beautiful city that is enveloped in green year-round._

"V-V-Viridian City?" Jasper stuttered. "But that's in Kanto. We're in Kanto!" He buried his face in his hands. "Oh man mom is going to be so worried." Jasper took a minute to collect himself. "Well I guess just moping here won't do anything. Let's see if we can find a way back to Sinnoh." They entered the city and took in all the unfamiliar sights. Jasper looked around and found a Pokémon Center. "Ok, maybe the Nurse Joy of this town will be able to help us."

They walked through the doors of the clinic and found a chaotic scene. Chansey were running back and forth with Pokémon on stretchers. The lobby was filled with Pokémon trainers who were all worried. Nurse Joy was franticly working at the desk. She looked up and saw Jasper and Absol.

"Oh does your Pokémon need treating too?" She asked. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait. As you can see we're very busy."

"No…" Jasper said. "I'm looking for directions."

"Oh. I'm sorry but we're very busy at the moment." Nurse Joy ran and bandaged an unconscious Bulbasaur. "There've been some thugs in the Viridian Forest who enjoy beating up young trainers' Pokémon with their own." She rubbed burn cream on a Pidgey.

"That's horrible!" Exclaimed Jasper.

"It's even worse for us since we're becoming overflown with injured Pokémon." A Chansey rolled an Eevee on a stretcher into the emergency treatment area. "If you need directions head over to the Pokémart."

"Ok." Jasper and Absol left the chaotic Pokémon Center and went to the Pokémart. They greeted the lady at the checkout counter, "Excuse me, but where do I go if I want to get a boat to Sinnoh?"

The lady pulled out a map of the region. "You're going to want to head through the Viridian Forest and up to Pewter City. Go west from there and through Mt. Moon until you get to Cerulean City. Head south from there and through the underground tunnel. That should take you to Vermilion City. You can buy a ticket for the S.S. Anne there and that'll take you to Sinnoh."

Jasper wrote down all of the directions. "Yikes that's a long way. We better buy some supplies."

"Are you a Pokémon trainer?" The lady asked. "Because we selling a _Trainer's Starting Supply Kit_ for only ten dollars. It includes basic supplies for camping such as a tent and food for both you and your Pokémon; as well as ten Pokéballs and a map of the region."

"All that for only ten dollars?" Jasper said in disbelief. "Yeah I'll buy it." Jasper took his wallet out of his backpack and handed the cashier ten dollars.

"Thank you very much." The cashier handed Jasper a compact tent which easily fitted into his pack, and map, two cases of food (one for humans and one for Pokémon), a flashlight, a lighter, a first aid kit that was good for both humans and Pokémon, and ten Pokéballs. "Have a nice day."

"You too ma'am." Jasper walked out of the store with his supplies. He turned to Absol. "Well we got quite a walk ahead of us. I think that if we're going to be travelling together for now on Absol you should officially be my Pokémon. Sound good to you?" Absol nodded. "Alright then. Hold still." Jasper took one of his newly bought Pokéballs out of his pack. He threw it at Absol. The ball snapped open in midair and fired a red beam of light at Absol which pulled it inside of the ball before snapping shut again. The button on the center of the ball glowed red as it started to wiggle. It stopped moving after a few seconds and the glowing died.

Jasper picked up the Pokéball. Absol was now officially his Pokémon. He shrunk the Pokéball and put it into his pocket. Japer took out his map and reviewed his path. The first place he had to go to was the Viridian Forest. He thought it would seem easy enough; but then he remembered what Nurse Joy had told him. There were thugs in there beating up Pokémon for fun.

Jasper laughed to himself. "Absol and I will kick their butts if we run into them." He said as he left town.

The Viridian Forest was huge. Trees stretched up for miles. And there were bug Pokémon everywhere Jasper looked. It seemed easy to get lost; but thankfully there was a clear path paved in the forest for trainers to walk straight through. Jasper walked down the path and took in the luscious sights.

"Well, well," A voice that stopped Jasper said. "What do we have hear? Another trainer." A tall man walked onto the path in front of Jasper. This must be one of the thugs Nurse Joy told him about. "Goodie. I was starting to get bored." He pulled a Pokéball out of his pocket.

Jasper pulled out Absol's Pokéball and prepared for a battle. "Bring it on." He said confidently.

But then someone shouted from the forest. "Hey Butch! We found it!"


	6. All Out Battle for the Colony

"Seriously?" Butch shouted back into the forest.

"Yeah!" The voice shouted. "Come and see."

Butch smirked. "Well you got lucky kid. Scram now if you know what's good for you." Butch ran into the forest.

"Oh no you don't!" Jasper shouted as he ran after the thug. He wouldn't let these thugs get away after all the Pokémon they had injured. When Jasper caught up he found a group of five men.

"See what I tell you?" One of them said. "The same tree, same view of rock formation, this is it man."

Another one smirked. "Alright, it should be just behind these bushes." They walked behind the bushes and stopped. "What the heck is this?"

"It looks like a colony of Combee."

Jasper ran and hid in the bushes behind the thugs. He peered out and saw a lot of Combee flying in and out of a cave.

"Well I can see that, but what are they doing here?"

"My guess is that someone brought a Vespiquen over, she somehow got loose, and now she has started a colony in the cave."

"Whatever," A thug said as he walked towards the cave. "Let's just get the money and go. I'm getting tired of beating up these weak trainers." But just before he reached the mouth of the cave, all of the Combee connected together and formed a wall that blocked the thug's progress. "What the heck? Move you stupid bugs!"

"Combees tend to be very territorial when it comes to their queen. You're not getting into that cave without a fight."

"Leave it to me!" Butch said while throwing out a Pokéball and releasing his Magmar. "Magmar, use flamethrower and take these bugs out." Magmar inhaled, and exhaled a stream of fire at the wall of Combee.

Although they clearly seemed taking great pain from the fire, the Combee did not break their wall. More Combee flew out of the cave and came to their aid. They surrounded Magmar and used their wings to track up hard chunks of mud and pelt it with them.

Magmar staggered back. The mud had not only hurt it, but also got into its eyes as well. Some of the Combee flew up and bit Magmar. This caused it to cry out and shoot a flamethrower in clear direction.

"A little help hear guys?" Butch called out.

"I thought you said you got this." One of the thugs said while laughing.

"Ha-ha very funny. Now shut up and help me!"

"Fine don't get your panties in a bunch." Another one of the thugs sent out his Houndoom. "Use overheat!" Houndoom smirked and let loose an explosion of fire from its body. The fire hit and knocked back all of the Combee attacking Magmar, but left Magmar itself unaffected since it was a fire-type.

"We got to help those Combee!" Jasper gasped as he threw out Absol's Pokéball. "Use night slash on Magmar and Houndoom!" He shouted when Absol appeared. Absol took one look at the situation and obeyed. The blade on the side of its head glowed black as it slashed both Magmar and Houndoom. Magmar fell backwards from the damage; however Houndoom withstood the attack being a dark-type.

"I thought I told you to scram kid!" Butch growled when he saw Jasper.

"Leave those Combee alone!" Jasper shouted.

"No way kid. We have a lot of money stashed in that cave."

Absol pounced on Houndoom and the two of them engaged in a dog-like fight. More Combee charged at Magmar.

"Use fire punch!" Butch ordered. Magmar's fists blazed with fire and it delivered a powerful punch to the charging Combee, causing them to fly back and scatter in all different directions.

One of the Combee landed far away from the rest of its group. Butch smirked. "Magmar use fire blast and make an example of that one." Magmar faced the stray Combee with a smug look on its face. It inhaled and flames started to build up in its mouth.

"NO!" Jasper shouted as he ran in-between the downed Combee and Magmar. "STOP!"

Butch laughed. "If you don't move kid Magmar will burn you too!"

Jasper stood his ground. Absol saw Jasper in peril and tried to rush to his aid; however Houndoom bit its neck and prevented Absol from helping Jasper.

Just as Magmar was about to use its attack, the wall of Combee disbanded. Butch smirked. "Finally come to your senses I see." But in an instant a ball of yellow light shot out from the cave and hit Magmar so hard that it fainted. "WHAT THE?" Butch shouted as he returned Magmar to its Pokéball.

A loud buzzing noise came out of the cave. Everyone turned their attention towards it. The buzzing stopped for a second, and instantly a Vespiquen flew out.

"It's the queen!" One of the thugs shouted. The remaining three thugs threw out their Pokéballs and a Swellow, Piloswine, and Raichu appeared on the battlefield.

"Swellow use wing attack!"

"Raichu use volt tackle!"

"Houndoom use flame wheel!"

"Piloswine use ice beam!"

All of the thugs Pokémon (save for Piloswine, who's attack was fired at a range) charged at Vespiquen with their attacks at the ready.

Vespiquen flapped her wings rapidly and created a repulsive wind. It knocked out all of the foe Pokémon save for Houndoom, which Absol quickly finished off with a slash attack.

All of the thugs called back their Pokémon, panicked, and ran away as fast as they could. Right when they exited the Viridian forest, a group of police officers met them and arrested them.

"Well I don't think those thugs will ever bother you again." Jasper said to the Vespiquen. "But I'm sorry about what they did to your Combees."

Vespiquen turned to her injured Combee and sent mini Combee from her abdomen to heal them.

Jasper laughed. "Oh heal order. Nice." He returned Absol to its Pokéball and started to walk away from the cave. "Well we really got to get going. Take care now." But then a Combee flew in front of him. "Huh? What's up?" The Combee flew affectionately around him. "Oh, are you that Combee I saved from the fire blast?" It nodded. "Oh I see. Well you're welcome little guy. I couldn't just let you get scorched could I?" He tried to leave, but the Combee kept following him. "What are you doing? Do you want to come with me?" Combee buzzed excitedly. "Well sure, if that's what you want. But I think I need the ok from your queen first." He turned to Vespiquen, who nodded her head in approval. "Ok then."

Jasper pulled a Pokéball out of his backpack and threw it at Combee. Within a few seconds the ball was securely locked and Combee now belonged to him. Jasper put the Pokéball in his pocket and went on his way, waving goodbye to the colony.


	7. Story of my Brother

Pewter City was nothing special; and Jasper spent most of his time in Mt. Moon running from Zubats. He spent the night at a hotel in Cerulean City before setting off again.

Halfway between Cerulean City and the Underground Tunnel Jasper stopped for a lunch break. Together he, Absol, and Combee ate lunch. Suddenly in the middle of his meal, Absol jerked its head up and looked towards the brush.

"What is it?" Jasper asked as he examined the forest. He heard a snapping sound which caused Absol to stand its ground and start to growl. The three of them walked closer to the forest to examine the source of the noise.

While they were distracted, a small and sneaky Pokémon came out of the forest behind them and made its way towards the food that Jasper and his Pokémon had previously been eating. The hungry little Munchlax started to chow down on all of the food at a breath taking rate.

Absol heard the sound of Munchlax's eating and quickly spun around and barked. Jasper and Combee turned around and gasped.

"HEY!" Jasper shouted. He dashed towards Munchlax. Munchlax gathered up the food it hadn't eaten and started to run away. "COME BACK HERE WITH OUR FOOD!" Absol jolted after it as fast as it could, but Munchlax was too agile even for Absol.

Jasper had to think quickly or else all of his food would be gone. He remembered his studies on bug Pokémon from school. "Combee use tail wind!" Combee flapped its wings rapidly and a burst of wind caused it to gain speed and catch up to Munchlax. "Now constrict him with string shot!" Combee's bottom head opened its mouth and shot a stream of silk at Munchlax.

Munchlax quickly turned around and flung one of the pieces of food he was carrying at the web; causing it to be wrapped up instead of itself. It fled into the bushes and out of their sight.

Jasper let out a huge sigh. "Well there goes all of our food," He said sadly. "Well hopefully Vermillion City isn't too far away." He called back his Pokémon and began walking down the path again. After ten minutes he came to a roadside café. Jasper's stomach growled at the sight. He ran inside.

It was a typical diner with a bar and some tables. A waiter was serving Pokémon trainers at the bar and a TV was hanging above the bar table. Jasper sat down and ordered a hamburger.

As he was eating the TV caught his attention. "Today's special," Said the host of the show. "Is the story of seven-time Pokémon Master Gil Nuding." Jasper instantly set his food down and watched the TV. "Gil was born June 10th, 2012 to his loving parents Valery and Jacob Nuding. The three of them were an inseparable family." An old family picture of Gil, his mother and father from before Jasper was born was shown.

"At the age of ten Gil decided that he wanted to become a Pokémon trainer. Setting out with his beloved Ralts, Gil left home and started his journey as a Pokémon trainer. After only 3 months he was able to conquer the entire Sinnoh League. He then set his sights on Hoen, Kanto, and finally Johto. All of them fell before the would-be Pokémon master.

"The whole length of his journey lasted three years before he returned home to his parents; who had big surprise for him when he arrived. When Gil arrived home he was not only greeted by his mother and father, but by his newborn baby brother as well. Jasper Nuding was born not even a week before Gil returned home. Valery and Jacob were glad to see their family as a whole for the first time."

Jasper started to feel sick to his stomach. He knew what they were going to talk about next. He wanted to turn off the TV, but he didn't have the remote.

"But sadly their family wouldn't stay a whole for much longer. Only three months after Gil's return, Jacob become ill with the deadly John Dough Disease. With no known cure for the disease, Jacob knew that it was only a matter of time before it would claim him. He waited in the arms of his worried family for a month before he finally passed away.

"After the heart breaking loss, Gil had to take the role of the father-figure to his younger brother. Over the course the next year Valery and Gil raised Jasper together. Then disaster struck. Jasper had become stricken with John Dough Disease." Jasper's eyes widened in surprise. Neither Gil nor his mother had told him about this. "At this point in time a cure was available for the lethal disease, but it was at a high cost.

"Gil was determined to not let the same fate that came to his father befall his brother. He needed money. When he heard about the Pokémon Master Tournament and its large cash reward for making it into the final ten, Gil jumped on the chance to enter. With the six Pokémon that had helped him through his adventures Gil was able to climb through the ranks defeating even everyone in the ten; earning him the chance to face the champion. And we can all guess how that turned out."

Jasper couldn't believe it. The only reason Gil become the Pokémon Master was to save him. This made him feel oddly strange inside.

"Thanks to the prize money Jasper's treatment was a complete success and Jasper still lives on to this very day." The documentary showed a picture of Jasper, Gil, and their mother playing with Gil's Pokémon. "And that, ladies and gentlemen is the story of the seven-time Pokémon Master Gil Nuding." The TV cut to commercial.

As Jasper finished his food he started to wonder why nobody had told him that Gil had entered the Pokémon Master's Computation to save his life. He had always thought that Gil entered to prove he was the best. Jasper started to think about his brother in a whole new way. It wasn't long before he couldn't help noticing that a couple of trainers were staring at him.

"Are you sure?" One of them asked the other. "There's no way it could be him."

"I'm positive." The other said. "He's an exact match." The two trainers approached Jasper. "Excuse me, but are you Jasper Nuding?"

"Yeah." Jasper said. "What of it?"

Both the trainers jumped. "What of it? You're the younger brother to the greatest Pokémon trainer in the world!"

Jasper grunted. That's all he was to most people who knew him. He was just Gil Nuding's younger brother.

"Dude you should totally battle him!"

"What? No way! There's no way someone like him would ever battle me."

"Actually," Jasper said. "I'd be more than happy to battle you."

"Seriously?"

"Yep." Jasper wanted to show them that he was a capable trainer as well.

"Alright!"

"Come on, I'll referee."

The three of them went outside to the area in front of the diner. Jasper and the trainer he was battling stood apart from each other while the referee stood to the side.

"This will be a one round battle." The referee said. "Both trainers are only allowed to use one Pokémon. First Pokémon to knock the other unconscious is the winner."

"Alright let's do this!" The trainer pulled out a Pokéball and threw it. "Kadabra I chose you!" A Kadabra appeared on the field.

Jasper pulled out Absol's Pokéball. Since it was a dark type Absol would easily be able to defeat Kadabra. But Jasper but the Pokéball back. He wanted to have a fair battle. He instead sent out Combee. It still had a type advantage over Kadabra, but at least it would be a fair fight.

"Begin!" The referee shouted.

"Kadabra use fire punch!" Kadabra's fist blazed with fire as it rushed at Combee and prepared to strike.

"Dodge it with tail wind." Combee created a gust of wind that quickly blew it to the side causing Kadabra to miss. "Now hit it with swift!" All three of Combee's heads opened their mouths and fired stars of pure energy at Kadabra. They buffered it and caused damage.

The trainer smirked. "Nice move. But how will you do against this? Kadabra use confusion!" Kadabra held the spoon it was holding out in front of it. The metal object began to glow blue.

Combee's eyes started glowing blue. It couldn't make out anything that was around it. It was in a state of confusion.

"Now use thunder punch!" Kadabra's fist sparked with electricity. It prepared to punch Combee.

"Snap out of it Combee!" Jasper shouted. But it wasn't fast enough. Kadabra brought its first down on Combee, causing it to be shocked with volts of electricity; which also caused Combee to be paralyzed.

"Now Kadabra, use psycho cut!" Kadabra's spoon started to glow and extended into a blade of physic energy. It used the blade to slash Combee and send it to the ground.

"Combee are you alright?" Jasper shouted. Thankfully Combee was able to get up and continue battling. But it was very weak from the massive amount of damage it had taken. Then Jasper got an idea. "Combee use endeavor!" Combee charged at Kadabra and made full contact with it. The move endeavor gains power the weaker the user is and causes the target to become just as weak. So Kadabra took a lot of damage. "He's weak, now use bug bite!" All three of Combee's heads bit Kadabra. The bug-type nature of the move took away the little energy it had left and caused Kadabra to faint.

"Kadabra is unable to battle!" The referee shouted. "The winner is Combee!"

Jasper started jumping up and down. This was his first official Pokémon victory. He called Combee back into its Pokéball. "You did great Combee."

The trainer put Kadabra back into its Pokéball and shook Jasper's hand. "That was a great battle."

"Thanks," Jasper said. "You two. I have to go now, take care!"

"We will."

Jasper started to walk away and listened to the two trainers talk.

"I can't believe it." The one who refereed said. "You just battled Jasper Nuding."

The one who Jasper battled laughed. "He's got potential. Maybe one day he might even be as great as his brother."

Jasper gasped. Had someone actually said he could be a great as Gil? This filled Jasper with extreme pride as he continued on. He had just taken his first step out of his brother's shadow.


	8. We Only Desire What is Best

When Jasper finally arrived in Vermillion, he was greeted by the sounds of waves crashing against the harbor and the smell of the sea. The town was bustling with seamen working the docks and fishermen brining in the catch of the day. But Jasper wasn't here for sightseeing, he had to get home. He found the water travel information desk and asked about the S.S. Anne.

"Yes," The lady at the help desk said. "The S.S. Anne makes port periodically here, Olivine City, Slateport City, and Canalave City. It'll be docking here in two days."

"Great." Jasper said. "May I please buy a ticket?"

"Certainly. That'll be a hundred dollars."

Jasper's heart sank. "I don't have that much."

"I'm sorry than you're out of luck."

"Thanks anyway." Jasper sighed and left the help center. He looked inside his wallet. There was only twenty dollars in there. He probably would have to get a job in order to get the money. When he finally got the money, he would have to wait for the S.S Anne to dock in Vermillion City again. He wouldn't be going home for a while.

"Jasper my boy, is that you?" Jasper turned around and saw Lynwood standing behind him. "So this is where you got flung off to. Thank goodness, I thought you might have gotten hurt."

"Oh, hey Lynwood."

"What's with the long face boy?"

"I can't afford a ticket for the S.S. Anne to get home. Now I'm stuck here until I can make enough money."

"The S.S. Anne? Well I'll be, that's the same ship me and the rest of Team Moon Force are heading on. I'd be happy to buy you a ticket so you can get back home."

Jasper's eyes widened. "Seriously?!"

"Well of course. I can't just leave you stranded hear in Kanto now can I?" He pulled a brochure out and checked it. "The ship won't arrive for another two days. Excellent." He pulled out a Pokéball and released his Altaria. "Jasper would mind taking a ride with me?" He climbed on the back of the large cloud bird.

"Uh sure," Jasper reluctantly said while climbing aboard. "Where are we going?"

"There is something that I wish to show you. Hold on. Altaria, take off." Altaria spread its wings and took off into the sky.

Jasper clung tightly to Lynwood. He was terrified to be up so high. After a few minutes of flying Jasper could see a large tower coming into view. Built around that tower was a small town. When they landed Jasper felt something unnerving about this town. The two dismounted Altaria and Lynwood put it back into its Pokéball.

"Where are we?" Jasper asked.

"This," Lynwood said. "This is Lavender Town. A place that most wish to avoid."

"Why?"

"Because…if you come here, it is most likely for one reason: to bury a deceased Pokémon." Lynwood led Jasper into the large tower. "This is Pokémon Tower, the final resting place of Pokémon." They ascended the stairs. The next floor was filled with lines of graves and a creepy white mist. "Mind the ghosts."

"Ghosts?" Jasper looked beside him and a Ghastly was staring him the face. "WHAAA!"

"Don't worry they're harmless…for the most part." They continued walking. "When this tower was first built, it didn't get much use fortunately. Only when a family pet died of old age or some disease." They went up another level. This floor looked the same as the previous one. "Then the Rockets came along. They were more than common thugs or poachers. They were complete monsters. Using their Pokémon to brutally beat and murder the Pokémon of young trainers. This tower started to be used more frequently. More levels had to be added for the deceased Pokémon. All types of Pokémon were lost. From Raticates to Beedrill. And even.,," They stopped a grave. Lynwood faced it and his face grew grim. "…a young trainer's beloved Charizard."

Jasper gasped. He realized what Lynwood was talking about. "Oh my god Lynwood, I'm so sorry."

Lynwood took a minute to collect himself. "There is no reason you should be. What is in the past is in the past and there is nothing we can do to change it. But what we can do is take measures to prevent it from happening again. That is why I started Team Moon Force. We only desire to take control so we can prevent tragedies from such as this from happening to more people."

"Why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because, I would hope it would persuade you to join our cause. A trainer with skills such as yours will be a valuable asset in capturing a Pokémon of legend."

Jasper shook his head. "I'm sorry Lynwood, but right now my top priority is to get home. Your cause is a good one, but I can't get mixed in with at right now."

"I see." The two of them left the tower. "Well your choice is your choice my boy. I respect that." He pulled a small machine out of his pocket. "Take this."

"What is it?" Jasper asked while taking it.

"It is an instant messenger." Lynwood produced another machine just like it. "If you ever are to change your mind you may use this to tell me."

Jasper put the instant messenger in his pocket. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

"Very good." Lynwood released his Altaria and mounted it. "Would you like a ride back to Vermillion?"

"No thank you, I want to do a little sightseeing."

"As you wish. Just remember that the S.S. Anne docks in two days at noon and leaves an hour later. Meet me at the docks before it leaves or I'm going to have to leave without you."

"Ok, got it. Thanks again Lynwood."

"Anytime my boy." He ordered Altaria to take off and it flew away.

Jasper took another look at the instant messenger. "Be part of an organization that'll change the world?" He said to himself. "Maybe someday."


	9. Princess of Embers

Jasper strolled along the pathways and taking in the beautiful sights of the water behind him, making sure not to wander too far away from Vermillion. He found a nice shady tree along the shoreline and decided to take a little rest. He laid back and listened to the calm sounds of the waves crashing against the shoreline. He would have found himself asleep if it wasn't for the sounds of two men coming towards him. Jasper quickly leapt to his feet and hid behind the tree. Two men holding a wriggling sack walked by without noticing him.

"It's just up ahead." One said to the other. "The boss if going to be so happy when he sees what we got."

"I know," The other said. "Can you believe its owners would just abandon it like that? Who cares if fire Pokémon are "out", you don't come across something like this every day."

From these people's appearance Jasper could tell that they were up to no good. He silently followed them. The two people went a little further up the river and disappeared behind a patch of trees. Jasper went behind the trees and discovered an abandoned power plant. Jasper snuck inside.

Inside there was a gang of about eight men. They all wore leather jackets and sunglasses. In the center of them was a larger and more muscular one who looked like their leader. The two men whom Jasper followed showed him the sack.

"You won't believe what we found today." The one holding the sack said.

"This better be good," The leader said. "Or else."

"Oh it's good alright. Check it out." He opened the sack and dumped a Vulpix out of it. But this wasn't a normal Vulpix, it had a golden coat as opposed to the normal red color. It looked up at the gang and started to cower.

The boss laughed. "This is a great find alright! It'll fetch a good price."

Jasper gasped. These men were poachers. Unfortunately the poachers herd his gasp and saw Jasper. He tried to run away but one of the released their Muk right in front of the door.

"Well, well, well," The boss said. "What do we have here? A young trainer spying on us? You do realize that we can't let you leave after what you just saw."

Quickly Jasper threw out Absol's Pokéball. Absol appeared and was ready for battle. "Use shadow ball!" Jasper ordered. Absol growled and launched a ball of darkness from its mouth at the ring of poachers. They all ran away to avoid the attack giving Jasper enough time to grab the Vulpix and run out of the power plant with it.

The terrified Vulpix shook in Jasper's arms. It had no idea what was going on. Just yesterday it had been living a pampered life as the pet of a rich family. Then it was cast away and left to fend for itself because fire Pokémon were no longer popular. And then all of a sudden two strange men grabbed it and took it to that power plant. Now this strange boy was running away with it. Vulpix let out a yelp.

"Shush!" Jasper loudly whispered as he clamped his hand over Vulpix's mouth and hid behind a tree. He suddenly felt his hand start to burn and realized that Vulpix was producing embers. He tried to hold in the pain but it was too much and he screamed.

The thugs heard Jasper and surrounded him. The boss laughed. "Well looks like we got ourselves a little hero here boys." The rest of the gang laughed with him. "Now kid, if you're smart you'll hand that Vulpix over. If you do we'll let you go." Jasper clutched Vulpix tighter. "If that's how you want it to be then so be it." He opened a Pokéball and a Scyther popped out and held it's scythe-like appendage to Jasper's throat. "Hand over that Vulpix and we won't hurt you, too much."

"ABSOL!" Jasper screamed. Absol leaped out and pounced on Scyther. Jasper dashed away while the poachers were distracted trying desperately to get the Vulpix to safety.

One of the poachers sent out their Hitmonchan and ordered it to use mach punch on Absol. With a quick jab Hitmonchan delivered a punch that was devastating to the dark-type Pokémon. Absol was sent rolling towards Jasper as he was still running away.

"Oh no!" Jasper shouted as he continued to run away. He pulled out Absol's Pokéball and put it back.

The leader smirked. "Not a bad idea." He pulled out an empty Pokéball.

Jasper started to panic. If they caught Vulpix there would be nothing he could do to save it. He stopped and dropped Vulpix. "Run away!" He ordered. Jasper then sent out Combee.

The poachers just laughed. "That all you got kid? Hitmonchan use thunder punch on this weakling." Hitmonchan pulled its fist back as it sparked with electricity.

"Use string shot!" Jasper ordered. Combee's bottom head shot out a stream of silk that wrapped up Hitmonchan's fist and rendered it useless. "Now use gust!" Combee flapped its wings fast and created a gust of wind that sent Hitmonchan to the ground. "Now finish it with air cutter!" Combee's wings started to glow and launch a blade of wind that made Hitmonchan faint.

Vulpix looked at Jasper in amazement. It didn't even know this boy and he was trying to save it. Its old family certainly would never do anything like that.

Then the leader's Scyther jumped out and used air slash on Combee. The attack was so powerful that Combee fainted. "Give it up," The leader laughed as Jasper retracted Combee. "You can't hope to beat us. Now just hand over that Vulpix and you'll get away mostly unharmed."

"Never!" Jasper shouted.

"Fine then. Scyther, you know what to do." A sinister look made its way onto Scyther's face as it slowly walked towards Jasper with its scythes extended. Jasper started to shake in fear but still held his ground. Scyther hit him with the blunt edge of its scythe-arm and sent Jasper to the ground.

That's what set Vulpix off. Anger burned up inside it after Scyther had hurt the boy who was trying to save it. Vulpix leaped in front of Scyther, causing it and the poachers to laugh. Vulpix opened its mouth and launched a long stream of fire at Scyther. It burned the bug type Pokémon to a crisp. When it was finally done Scyther was charred black.

The leader growled in anger. "That is it!" He held up the empty Pokéball.

Jasper gasped. In panic he did the only thing he could think of, throw one of his Pokéballs at Vulpix. The Pokéball shot out a beam of red light which pulled Vulpix inside of it. The ball's center glowed red as it wiggled for a few seconds before finally turning white signaling that it was securely locked. Jasper had caught the golden Vulpix.

The leader screamed in anger. "YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT!" He held up another Pokéball. Jasper closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.

"Altaria use dragon breath!" Came a voice from the sky. A stream of fire then rained down onto the leade?r and sent him flying backwards. Jasper looked up and saw Lynwood riding his Altaria. "Now use dragon pulse!" Altaria let loose a ball of energy at all of the poachers which sent them all blasting off far away. Altaria landed and Lynwood dismounted. "Jasper my boy, are you hurt?"

"No," Jasper said while getting up. "How did you find me?"

"By stroke of luck. I just happen to be flying and doing a little sightseeing of my own when I saw you in distress. You seem to have quite a nose for trouble."

Jasper laughed nervously. "Yeah seems so."

Lynwood climbed back aboard Altaria. "Come one my boy, the S.S. Anne awaits us." He outstretched his hand and helped Jasper get on. "Fly!" Lynwood ordered and they took off.

As they made their way back to Vermillion, Jasper starred into the Pokéball that he had just caught Vulpix and wondered what he was going to do with it. He could just release it when they got back to Vermillion, but that would leave it vulnerable to more poachers. He decided that it would be best to hold onto it until he found out a better idea.

"Welcome to the team," He whispered to the Pokéball.


	10. Set Sail on the SS Anne

The docks of Vermillion were overrun with activity. People running back and forth with cargo, fisherman arguing over whose Magikarp was bigger, and guards preventing people from boarding the S.S. Anne without a ticket. In all this madness nobody noticed a lone Munchlax wandering the docks. Munchlax were known to wander anywhere they suspect might be food. People on the dock tend to drop their food a lot, so this Munchlax loved to hang out here. Today however, it noticed something it had never noticed before: the best tasting smell it had ever smelled. The little Munchlax followed its nose right to the source of the smell, which just happened to be the S.S. Anne.

"Now the ship stops in Canalave City last," Lynwood told Jasper as they boarded the massive ocean liner. "Me and my men have to leave at Slateport City. Will you be ok after we leave?"

"Of course sir," Jasper said. "I've been able to take care of myself so far. A few days on a luxury cruise ship by myself shouldn't be too difficult to manage."

Lynwood laughed. "Right you are my boy. Your cabin is B120. Enjoy yourself. And good luck getting home."

"Thanks, and good luck taking over the world." Jasper laughed as he entered his cabin. It was a cozy little room with a bedside table and lamp, a porthole where he could look out at the sea, and a really soft looking bed. On the wall by his door he noticed a schedule of when the ship will dock. It wouldn't be docking in Canalave till next week. All the better for him. Jasper jumped onto the bed and instantly sank into the soft matress.

Jasper looked at the table to the side of him and saw a book filled with activities and services that were available on the ship. He picked it up and flipped through it. The dining hall was free with the ticket, there was a swimming pool and hot tub, a battle arena for any trainers, and even a Pokémon grooming center.

Pokémon. Jasper had nearly forgotten about Vulpix. He should probably get acquainted with it if it would be traveling and possibly living with him. He took Vulpix's Pokéball out of his pocket and released the golden Pokémon.

Vulpix looked around the cabin. The setting seemed familiar to it. It wondered if it had all been a dream and it was still living with its family. But then it noticed Jasper and realized that everything had actually happened.

"Hello Vulpix," Jasper said kneeling down to get more level with it. "My name is Jasper. I saved you from those poachers remember? I couldn't think of anywhere to take you so I decided to take you along with me. I hope we can be friends." He reached out to stroke Vulpix's head. Vulpix, however, pouted and flicked its head singling that it didn't want him to do that. "Huh?" Jasper started to laugh. "Well you're just a little princess aren't you? Well you better get used to me because I'm not just going to abandon you." He pulled out Absol and Combee's Pokéballs. "You'd better also meet your new friends." He sent the two Pokémon out.

Vulpix took a look at Combee. It was just another bug-type Pokémon. It paid no attention to such a common species. Then its jaw dropped when it examined Absol. It was big, tall, heroic looking, everything of Vulpix's dreams. It did its best to make itself look decent and started nudging up against Absol's legs.

Jasper started laughing. "Look like you got yourself a lover there Absol." His stomach started to growl. "I guess I could do with some lunch. How about you guys?" Absol and Combee nodded. Vulpix tried not to take mind, as a proper Pokémon should when offered handouts, but the sound of its stomach made it difficult. It sighed and nodded.

The four of them made their way to the dining hall. There was a buffet laid out in the center that contained a wide variety of food for both humans and Pokémon. Jasper looked around. It didn't seem to be too crowded. But Jasper knew from his experiences in restaurants that they better claim a table while they still could. He turned to Absol and Vulpix.

"You two go get us a table," He told the two of them. "Combee and I will get our food." Absol nodded and started scouting for a table. Vulpix followed Absol wherever it went. Jasper and Combee got in line for the buffet. The line was short but Jasper saw it gradually getting longer. Jasper and Combee were thankful that they got the spot they did.

When the two of them got to the counter, they saw it was divided into two sections, one for humans and one for Pokémon. Jasper was amazed by all the choices of food there were. He just made himself a couple sandwiches though. When they got to the Pokémon section, there was food for Pokémon of each type. He grabbed three bowls. One full of dark-type food, one full of fire, and one full of bug.

Jasper found the table that Absol and Vulpix had chosen and sat down beside them. He gave the food to his Pokémon and started eating his own. Vulpix looked reluctantly at its food. It didn't look like anything it was used to eating. But after taking one bite of it, it dug right into its food. Combee started using honey it made in its mouth to sweeten its food.

The scent of Combee's honey carried through the air. It went straight into the nose of the Munchlax that had snuck aboard the ship. It was just wandering out of the kitchen when it smelled the honey. It ran over the Jasper's table and eyed his sandwiches. The Munchlax started pulling at Jasper's leg.

This got his attention. He looked at the Munchlax. "Sorry you can't have any." But it kept pulling at Jasper's leg. "I said no." It didn't stop. "Whose Munchlax is this?" He looked around the room and saw that nobody was coming to claim it. He was about to try and send it away when a bunch of angry chiefs came bursting from the kitchen.

"THERE IT IS!" One of them shouted. "THERE'S THE MUNCHLAX THAT STOLE TONIGHT'S DINNER! GET IT!" Munchlax gasped and ran as fast as it could out of the dining hall. The angry chiefs chased after it.

"Well that was weird." Jasper said as he finished one of his sandwiches. "Hey Combee can I have some of that honey?"

Later that night Lynwood stood on the bow of the ship and starred up at the full moon. It was the beauty of this world that he enjoyed. When he controlled the world he would make sure to preserve this beauty. One of his men came up to him.

"Sir," The Moon Force member said. "I just checked with the ship's captain, we're on schedule."

"There's no rush." Lynwood said while looking up at the moon. "We're on vacation after all. You need to enjoy yourself. We'll have plenty of time to take over the world once we get to Hoen. Relax, call your family, just have fun."

"Very well sir," The troop walked off.

Lynwood reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small green orb. He held it up to the moonlight. "Soon, soon." He mumbled to himself. Suddenly the orb started to glow extremely bright. "No," Lynwood gasped. "You're not supposed to come till we reach Hoen!" He made a dash for the ship's main office. As he ran he heard the roar of a giant, green serpent bursting through the clouds.


	11. Battle on Board!

Jasper was quickly able to fall into a deep sleep in his cabin's soft bed. He would have to recommend this ship to his mother next time they went on vacation. He was only asleep for about an hour before he was awoken by Lynwood's voice shouting through the intercom.

"Attention passengers," he shouted. "I am sorry for the inconvenience but you all must evacuate the ship immediately!"

"Get off of that!" The captain's voice came from the intercom. A crashing noise was heard like he had been pushed.

"There's no time to explain!" Lynwood shouted. "If you go to the starboard deck on of my men will have deployed a Wailord to carry you all to safety. Please, I beg of you, go!"

Jasper (as well as all of the other passengers) came out of their cabins to see just what was going on. Then they heard a loud roaring sound coming from the sky. They looked up and saw a giant green serpent flying towards them. Jasper couldn't believe his eyes. There was no mistaking it, that was the legendary Rayquaza.

Rayquaza roared and shot a hyper beam straight at the passengers. A member of Team Moon Force ran in front of them, quickly sent out his Gardevoir, and shouted "Gardevoir, use reflect!" Gardevoir held its arms out in front of it and created a barrier around it and the passengers. When the hyper beam hit the barrier it was redirected straight into the sky. When the beam subsided Gardevoir lowered the barrier and fell to its knees, forcing its trainer to call it back to its Pokeball. "Come on!" The member shouted. "This way!" He ushered all of the passengers to the starboard deck.

There Team Moon Force members were helping passengers onto a Wailord, which looked big enough to carry the entire ship on its back. A head count was done once all the passengers were loaded on the whale Pokemon and everyone was accounted for.

The last member of Team Moon Force still on the boat turned to face Lynwood, who was standing on the highest point of the ship. "Sir!" He shouted. "Come on!"

"No," Lynwood said while starring up at the raging serpent. "I brought this beast here, and now I'm going to drive it back to where it came from."

"But..." Then Rayquaza shot another hyper beam directly at the ship. The member jumped on the Wailord and its trainer ordered it to swim away. The beam hit the ship causing it to explode and sent Lynwood flying into the air.

He threw a Pokeball and shouted "Salamence!" His Salamence appeared and caught him in midair. Lynwood adjusted himself and turned to face Rayquaza. He pulled out the Jade Orb and held it to the sky. "Is this what you want?" He shouted. Rayquaza roared loudly. "Then come and get it!" Salamence charged at the massive serpent.

Rayquaza shot a hyper beam, which Salamence was easily able to fly under.

"Zen head-butt!" Lynwood ordered. Salamence flew faster and a purple aura formed around it. When it hit Rayquaza the impact sent the green dragon flying backwards. Lynwood held out his finger and shouted "Now use dragon rage!" Salamence shot a massive gush of fire from its maw.

Rayquaza instantly snapped back into position and fired the same attack at Lynwood and Salamence. The two fires collided with each other. Salamence's smaller body caused the spray to go around it; but Rayquaza was far too big for that to happen to it. So the spray pelted and burned it. Its rage became even fiercer. It started to move faster than the eye could see.

Lynwood sharpened his senses and waited to see where Rayquaza would reappear. He heard its roaring coming from behind. Salamence turned around and Lynwood gasped Rayquaza was going after the Wailord with all of the passengers.

The green dragon roared at the massive whale carrying the literal boat-load of humans. Lightning stuck in the water beside Wailord and created a big wave that rocked it and cause a couple passengers to fall off. They were quickly rescued thanks to some trainers' water Pokemon.

"Wailord use surf!" Wailord's trainer ordered. Wailord started swimming as fast as it could in order to escape Rayquaza, but the flying serpent was able to keep up easily. It opened its mouth and charged another hyper beam.

Lynwood and Salamence fly as fast as they could towards Rayquaza. "Zen head-butt!" He shouted. Salamence charged faster and made full contact with Rayquaza, right before it launched to hyper beam. This caused Rayquaza to spin out of control and fire the hyper beam as it did so. Salamence tried to dodge the beam, but it moved in such an unpredictable pattern that it was nearly impossible. So the attack blaster Lynwood and Salamence full force. The blue dragon fainted and caused both it and its trainer to start falling towards the ocean. Badly injured, Lynwood call Salamence back to its Pokeball as he was still falling. He then steered his fall towards the giant Rayquaza.

The old man caught its tail and started to scale the beast. When he was atop its head he pulled out the Jade Orb. "Away with you!" He shouted. Then Rayquaza's eye's glowed green and it flew into the sky along with Lynwood. Neither of them were seen for the rest of the night.


	12. A Not So Pleasant Surprise

The entire harbor of Canalave City suddenly froze with awe when Gil arrived. The second he emerged from the cabin of his private ship he became the center of attention. People started to cheer as he walked by. The street was an islie of cheering people with Gil walking down the down the center. Every so often he stopped to sign a few autographs for people holding out books. Just a normal day whenever he went out in public.  
When the long line of people finally ended Gil turned to face them one last time. He pulled out a Pokeball and released Skarmory, causing the crowd to cheer even louder as he flew off into the sky. He steered Skarmory in the direction of Jubilife City. Though it didn't need guidance for it knew the way. Even though Skarmory wasn't born in Sinnoh, it called the region more of a than it did Johto; as did all of Gil's Pokemon.  
After half an hour of flight Gil landed in his mother's front yard and returned Skarmory to its Pokeball. He could wait to see the look on Jasper's face. He opened the door with his key and walked inside. Nobody was in the living room. He checked the kitchen and it was empty too. "Hello?" He called out. "Mom? Jasper? It's me, Gil." Gil figured they must be out shopping. He walked around the house and was filled with nostalgia. It was exactly how he remebered it. He went up to his old room.  
Just like he remembered it. His bed, his collection of Pokemon figures, his framed collection of 38 gym badges. "Hey its my old collection of Pokemon cards." Gil said taking a shoe box out from under the bed. "I'll have to call Dave later and see if he still plays." Gil chuckled to himself when he saw what was at the foot of his bed: Gallade's old Pokemon bed. He had read in 13 individuality magazines that his Gallade was called the strongest Pokemon in the world; but Gil could still remember him sleeping there and sucking his thumb when he was still a Ralts.  
Gil decided that he shouldn't be the only one who gets a nostalgia trip today. He pulled out Gallade's Pokeball and released him. Gallade appeared and looked around the room, recognizing it instantly. He knelt down at his old bed and picked up the the small blanket neatly folded inside of it. Gallade pressed it to his face, taking in all of his fond childhood memories. He remembered the cold winter nights where this blanket kept him warm throughout the night. He was much too big to lay in the bed, but he would if he could.  
Gil let Gallade feel his nostalgia as he walked down the hall and into Jasper's room. He examined it. There was a Pokemon Master Tournament poster for every year on that Gil had been been champion on the walls. On the shelf beside Jasper's bed were various Pokemon figure. After a closer look Gil realized that they were all of Gil's Pokemon party. Accept for one, an Absol. Gil thought nothing of it. He was about to look around more when he heard the door open downstairs. Gil walked downstairs to give his family a pleasant surprise.  
But instead of being happy Gil's mother hugged him and started to cry.  
"What's wrong mom?" Gil asked with deep concern.  
"It's your brother Gil! He's been missing for two weeks! The police can't find him at all!"  
"Two weeks ago? But that was on the day of the finals. Did he overhear our conversation on the phone?"  
"I think he might have..."  
Gil ran to the phone and called every gym leader in Sinnoh, giving they Jasper's discretion None of them said he had challenged them, but they said they would keep an eye out of him and contact Gil if he did.  
"Well he hasn't been to any of the Sinnoh gyms. He couldn't have left Sinnoh could he?"  
"I don't know..." Gil's mother started crying again. "I'm so worried about him."  
"Don't worry mom, I'll travel around the whole word again to find him if I have to."


	13. Eclipsed

The Wailord holding the passengers of the S.S. Anne landed on the shores of Slateport City the next day. Members of Team Moon Force helped the passengers off.

"Right the way ladies and gentlemen." A member with a megaphone said, ushering the passengers towards the city. "We will help put you on a boat to wherever you were trying to go."

Jasper stayed behind though. "Sorry about Lynwood." He told them.

"He was a good man." One of the members said.

"What are we going to do now?" Another asked. "Are we going to just going to disband?"

"No way! We're going to carry out Lynwood's dream! That's what he would want us to do!"

"But who's going to lead us?"

"Perhaps the boy. Lynwood seemed fond of him; maybe he'll make a good leader."

"Let a ten year old lead us? Are you crazy?"

"I'll do it." One member said as he stood in front of the rest. "I will take on the responsibilities of being the leader."

"Of course! Lynwood always went to you for advice Redgie! You'll make a perfect leader!"

"We will go to Sky Tower and finish what Lynwood started." Redgie shouted.

"No!" A member shouted as he pushed his way through the gang and up to Redgie. "Lynwood did not know what he was doing. We shouldn't attack the government directly; we should seize the region piece by piece."

"Stand down Lemar!" Redgie said. "You do not know what you're saying."

"Yes I do!" Lemar shouted. "Lynwood was getting nowhere in our quest for world domination! My plan will get it done quickly and swiftly!"

"Yeah!" Some of the members shouted in agreement.  
"I said stand down Lemar!" Redgie shouted, this time sounding more instant.

"No! We have the Pokémon power. We could take control of this city right now easily!" More members shouted in agreement with Lemar.

"That's the exact thing Lynwood wanted to prevent!" Jasper shouted.

"The boy!" Lemar shouted. "He knows too much! Get him!"  
Redgie and some other members stood in front of Jasper. "I order you to stop this now Lemar!"

"Out of my way Redgie, let me have the boy!"

"I am your leader Lemar. As long as you are a member of Team Moon Force you will have to do what I say. Now stand down!"

"Fine!" Lemar threw off his shirt. "I am no longer part of your team!"

"Me neither!" Another member said throwing off his shirt. More members did the same.

"From now on we are Team Eclipse!" Lemar drew a Pokéball. "Give us the boy Redgie."

Redgie drew a Pokéball as well. "You don't want to do this Lemar."

"I guess we're going to have to do this the hard way." The two gang leaders released their Pokémon. Redgie released his Rapidash and Lemar released his Aggron. The rest of both gangs released their Pokémon and within seconds the beach was filled with Pokémon.

Rather than launch an attack, Redgie grabbed Jasper, mounted Rapidash, and dashed away into Slateport City. Aggron tried to run after it but was stopped by two Machokes.

"Don't worry I'm going to make sure you're safe boy." Redgie told him as Rapidash dashed through the market stalls. "I can only take you to the northern edge of town. Keep running north until you get to Mauville City. Then run west until you reach Verdanturf Town it's a small town at the edge of the forest. You should be safe there." Rapidash slowed to a halt and Jasper climbed off. "I have to take go back and take care of this matter. I will get you when it's safe." Redgie's Rapidash turned around and trotted back the way it came.

Jasper started running along the path. He didn't want to get mixed up in this gang war. He just wanted to get home.

Unfortunately a member of the newly formed Team Eclipse followed Jasper and Redgie. In the time it took Jasper to stop and get off of Rapidash, the grunt managed to catch up with him.

"Just where to do u think you're going boy?" The grunt said. Jasper tried to run away but the grunt threw an Ivysaur in his path. When I capture you Lemar is going to make me a general.

Jasper knew he had no choice but to fight his way through. The grunt and his Ivysaur got into battle position. Jasper assessed the battle. Ivysaur was a grass type, which meant that Vulpix would be perfect for this battle. He grabbed Vulpix's Pokéball and threw it.

With a flash of white light Vulpix appeared. Its golden pelt sparkled in the sunlight. Ivysaur growled and it cowered under its paws.

"Vulpix use ember!" Jasper ordered. Vulpix kept cowering underneath its paws. "Come on Vulpix!"

The grunt smirked. "This is too easy. Ivysaur use tackle!" Ivysaur charged and tackled Vulpix. Vulpix flew off the ground and landed by Jasper's feet.

"Vulpix!" Jasper knelt down by it. Ivysaur had hit it hard. "Come on you have to fight!" But Vulpix had never been in a Pokémon battle before. The very sight of this terrified it.

"Vine whip!" The grunt ordered. Ivysaur extended vines from under the bulb on its back and used them to grab Vulpix and throw it to the ground. Tears shed from Vulpix's eyes.

Jasper knew that this wasn't going good. Vulpix was being beaten up. It needed help. He hated to use a dirty move like this, but Vulpix needed help. He grabbed another Pokéball from his pocket and threw it.

"Combee, save Vulpix!" Jasper shouted as Combee appeared. Combee charged and Ivysaur and created a gust of wind to blow it away from Vulpix.

The grunt was taken back. "Wha...what the...no fair!" He shouted. "Ivysaur use poison sting!" Ivysaur launched a stream of poison needles from its back at Combee.

"Dodge and use air cutter!" Combee spun out of the way of the needles and used its wing to send a blade of air at Ivysaur, which caused critical damage.

Meanwhile Vulpix couldn't believe what had just happened. It had just been saved by a bug Pokémon. A bug Pokémon! How could Vulpix let itself be shamed like that? This filled it with a burning hot rage. It started charging blindly, not caring where.

Jasper gasped. Vulpix was literally on fire. Flames blazed off of it in all directions. The golden vixen tackled Ivysaur and set it ablaze. Then the flames around Vulpix exploded, scorching both the grunt and Combee. The flames died out and Vulpix fell to the ground, its golden pelt burnt in many places.

"What the heck was that?" Jasper gasped. But he knew he didn't have any time to think about that. He had to run away before any more grunts caught up. He called Vulpix and Combee back and took off running.


	14. A Bond Built to Last

Inside the Verdanturf Pokémon Center the Nurse Joy there was treating both Combee and Vulpix for major burns. Off to the side Jasper was on the computer trying to figure out more about the move that Vulpix had used the day before. He had never seen a fire type move like that before and wanted to know more about it.

"Ok," Jasper said to himself as he logged onto the computer. "Let's go online to the Pokémon data base." Jasper brought up the internet browser and went to the Pokémon World Data Base.

"Welcome," The computer said when the data base was brought up. "To the Pokémon World Data Base. This website contains a vast verity of Pokémon facts and data. Please help us help you by telling us what exactly is it you are searching for." Jasper clicked on the tab that said _Pokémon Attacks_. "Please type in the name of the Pokémon Attack you would like to know more about. If you do not know the name, click the link that reads _Don't Know_." Jasper clicked on the link. "Please provide us with a description of the attack and we will do our best to search for it."

Jasper typed into the text box:

_A fire-type move where the user cloaks itself in fire and charges at the foe. The resulting attack creates an explosion of fire that burns the user and all surrounding Pokémon._

"Please wait while we process your search." A sprite of a Pidgey and a spinning circle appeared in the center of the screen to signify that the search was being processed. "We have come back with four results."

Jasper looked at the list of moves. _Fire Blast, Flame Wheel, Flare Blitz, Overheat_. He knew three out of the four results and the move that Vulpix used didn't look like any of them. But Jasper was not familiar with the move _flare blitz_. So he clicked on the link to that move.

_The user creates flames around its body hot enough to melt ice and makes a head on collision with the target. The flames are so strong that they burn the user as well._

That sounded like the move that Vulpix used. Jasper played a video that was embedded into the page. A video of a Pokémon Stadium started playing. A Charizard roared to the sky and fired surrounded it. The fire dragon started flying head on towards its opponent, which was a Machamp. The flames around the Charizard exploded and scorched the Machamp. But there were burn marks on the Charizard as well.

This move seemed pretty powerful to Jasper. But that fact it hurt its user made him decide that he would never order Vulpix to use it. He was about to log off when he realized that he was on the internet. He could video call his mother. He closed the internet browser and clicked on the video call program. He typed in his home phone number. The call didn't go through though. Jasper tried again and got similar results.

"What gives?" Jasper said in annoyance.

"Our phone service hasn't been working lately." The Nurse Joy informed him. "You won't be able to make any calls from here.

Jasper sighed. "Just my luck," He muttered. Jasper logged off and walked outside to take a look around town. He had been staying at Verdanturf Town for two days now at the Pokémon Center. The forested setting of the town was beginning to be familiar to him. But Jasper knew that he had to find a way to get back home. With Lynwood gone and Team Moon Force split Jasper knew that he wouldn't be able to rely on them for a way to get back home. He would have to find a way back himself. Though the S.S. Anne was sunk, surely there had to be some other ship that sailed across the regions. Not even a luxury cruise ship, just something that would take him to Sinnoh.

While he was lost in thought something came rolling into town that caught Jasper's attention. A group of men came into Verdanturf Town with a large wagon pulled by two Tauros. It was pulled passed the Pokémon Center and to a corner of the town. The men unloaded the cart and started to set up a huge red tent.

Whatever this was had captured Jasper's interest. He had to know what this was. He went up to one of the town's citizens and asked him.

"Excuse me sir, what is that?" Jasper pointed to the tent being set up.

"Oh that?" The man said. "That's the Battle Tent. They come here twice a year and set up special Pokémon tournaments. The winner gets $50.

"Thank you sir." $50, it wasn't much, but it was a start. And Jasper was already really good at battling, so this should have been easy money for him. Jasper decided that he would compete in this Battle Tent and start earning money in order to get back home. He went to the men setting up the tent and asked about it.

"Well each tournament we give a special rule for the Pokémon battles." One of them said. "For this one each trainer's Pokémon must battle without their guidance."

"How does that work?" Jasper asked.

"Well you just have to have faith in your Pokémon."

Jasper thought about this. Both Vulpix and Combee were currently in the Pokémon Center being treated. So his only choice would be Absol. Did he have a strong bond with Absol? He looked at its Pokéball.

He had found Absol over a year ago when he rescued it from poachers. Absol hadn't run away into the wilds of Sinnoh like the other Pokémon Jasper had freed; it felt bound to the boy by a sense of honor. So it stayed around Jubilife City, waiting for him to return.

When Jasper had realized that Absol wasn't going to leave, he decided to train it. Then he could use it to go on a Pokémon journey of his very own and maybe one day beat Gil. Every day they trained together and improved Absols skills as a Pokémon. It learned moves that it never thought that it would learn on its own. It became lighter and more nimble on its feet. It became a hardened and tough Pokémon.

Jasper knew that he had developed a strong bond with his Absol. He felt confident he was ready to battle any trainer. He was going to sign up for the battle tent.


End file.
